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29 June 2009

Cheap Pinotage is Getting Better

My long held belief that cheap anonymous Pinotage should be avoided is under review. Sure there is inexpensive good Pinotage made by experts like Andries Blake at Swartland Winery and Zakkie Bester at Riebeek Cellars but in my tours of the web I sometimes encounter lousy reviews of the Pinotage variety based on one $5 bottle of wine bearing a shipper’s brand name that doesn’t appear in Platter or have any information about where it was made. If the maker doesn't want to be identified then I don't have much faith in the brand.

Last week in Exeter at the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant I saw Rouwkes Drift Pinotage listed at £9.95. That is a pleasantly low price for restaurant. But was the wine drinkable?

Indeed, it was an enjoyable, clean, fresh modern fruit driven wine with pleasant red cherry flavours.

The wine was came from Malt House Vintners, which is the wine range exclusive to Booker , a a wholesaler supplying restaurants and independent stores and they suggest a retail price of £5.29 per bottle.

But I couldn’t discover who actually made the wine. The identification number A938 is owned by Constellation, the world’s largest wine company. Constellation’s South Africa wine brands include Kumala and Fishhoek, brands which also featured on Bookers list.

As the best Pinotage’s are getting more expensive, its good to find that the cheapest ones are getting better. Well done Malt House Vintners and especially the Taj Mahal.

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About Me

Peter F May is the founder of The Pinotage Club, an international cyber-based fan club for wines made from the Pinotage variety.
Peter was awarded Honorary Membership of the producers Pinotage Association in 2004 and was a judge at the annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition in 2004 and 2005.
Peter is a wine writer, educator and author. His book PINOTAGE: Behind the Legends of South Africa's Own Wine may ordered below and from Amazon.
Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape - odd wines from around the world was published in summer 2006.
Peter answers all polite emails - contact him at peter (at) pinotage (dot) org .

A I Perold's
A Treatise
on Viticulture
A I Perold (1880-1941) was South Africa's first Professor of Viticulture and Oenology. He dedicated himself to improving the quality of grapes for wine, brandy and the table. He studied wine and brandy production in Europe, imported more than 60 varieties to the Cape and bred new ones. Perold said this book “is intended to serve both the student and the practical grape-grower. There are in it technical passages that will appeal more to the student, e.g. the chapters dealing with the biology of the vine, its external and internal morphology, the theory of grafting. My remarks on the practice of viticulture, such as those dealing with the propagation, manuring and pruning of the vine, the production of table grapes for export, will, it is hoped, assist the practical grape-grower as well as the student.” This is a newly typeset reprint, not a photocopy. Text on the 712 pages have been aligned to match the original pagination so any external references to pages in the Treatise will be valid in this edition
Available in paperback and hardback editions. 712 pages